


This Is It

by KailynBail



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Garrus and Shepard for life, Yes I know, andromeda - Freeform, human turian, shepard not shepard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 14:06:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11761497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KailynBail/pseuds/KailynBail
Summary: Garrus never thought he'd see her again. Not her. Never her. But there she was, as bright as the dawn. All the things he wished for was in one person... and the galaxy kept trying to tear itself apart, tear them apart. Well, enough was enough.[I took liberties, severe liberties with a lot of things here... as well as making Garrus more humanoid (deal). But, I also kept a lot of things the same.]





	1. Chapter 1

Garrus wiped at the sweat that had begun to bead on his brow, sticking his fingers under the low visor, his hair sagging down onto his forehead. He was… exhausted. His vision was starting to shake randomly on him… the muscles around his eyes were screaming from the way he had been hyper focused for the past six hours. He licked his lips as he pitched his head to the side again, lining up _another_ shot… finger on the trigger… the muscles in his hands were long past the point of cramping, they were almost numb entirely. He shallowed out his breathing… another unlucky soul making their way cautiously down the bridge… like their caution would save them. He flexed… started to squeeze… a flash of a red stripe… a familiar emblem… _N7._ He pulled back, blinked rapidly and shook his head… it wasn’t the first time he’d seen her in his scope when he was tired. But it wasn’t her, it couldn’t be her. She was two years gone, two years lost, two years dead. _His_ angel. He looked again… it was _still there_. He cursed under his breath and wiped at his brow _again_. “God damn it.” He felt his jaw starting to tremble… “It’s impossible.” He ground out at himself… and looked _again_. Nothing. No one at all this time. He let out a ragged breath. He scanned the bridge again… crystalline eyes darting left and right, up and down… when he heard the slightest of sounds, a creak of the sole of a boot… nothing more… he whipped to the left, rifle up, muscles all cramping in sudden alarm at the sharp flex that went through him. He stared… rifle in a death grip… “It’s… impossible.” He muttered again… eyes locked on the red _N7_ … the familiar shape… the width of her shoulders… the taper of her waist… the flare of her hips… he swallowed against the rapidly forming lump in his throat. “You can’t be here.” He said low, his tenor rough and gravel filled from the grief that tugged at him… the grief and the _regret_. He’d never told her. He’d been too much of a coward… to scared of the feelings he had for this _human_. But it wasn’t her, it couldn’t he her. It had to be a trick! He tightened his hold on the rifle again, lifting it higher, more threateningly.

Marian blinked rapidly for a moment there… her own pistol aimed, locked and loaded, at the ready… true, they were here to recruit _Archangel_ , but… that voice. She _knew_ that voice. It itched at her mind, scratching at the surface like a song you just couldn’t get out of your head. She reached up, tapped the side of her helmet, the visor fading from opaque black to clear, revealing the upper portion of her face. Her own grip tightened on her weapon, she felt rather than saw Miranda and Jacob pressing in on her blind sides, two people she trusted about as much as she could throw, and she wasn’t _that_ strong. “Who are you.” She commanded, her tone coming out with a sharp edge.

Garrus felt whatever feeling was left in his hands just vanish the same moment her visor’s discretion setting did. The muscles around his eyes trembled, stung, pricked with the sudden rush of emotion as he stared at eyes that had haunted his dreams… and sometimes his waking hours as well. Eyes that reminded him of the stormy oceans on Palaven… every shifting hues of greys and the slightest hint of blue… he knew those eyes by memory alone and yet here they were staring back at him with a similar amount of shock and a certain amount of hope. Her voice… he felt like weeping openly from hearing it, either it was a cruel joke or… his salvation. But he swallowed down the lump in his throat… schooling his features, forcing all of that down. Now was not the time… even if his heart was breaking, for a number of reasons. He lowered his rifle… let it hang at his side… reached up and tugged his helm off, feeling the cool air hit his fevered skin. He didn’t want to look at her… but he did. Her eyes flared at him… and he saw _relief_ flood them. He wanted to be relieved. But all he felt in that single moment… was _anger_. “Shepard.” His own tenor came out… colder than he had intended.

Marian’s lips went slack when _Archangel_ revealed himself. “Garrus…” She immediately holstered her weapon, motioning for the others to do the same. “What… what are _you_ doing here?”

Garrus gave a humorless smirk, tossing his helm down onto a nearby couch. “Nice to see you too.” His tone was a blend of exhausted and bitter as he turned away from her, moving to take a lean, his body begging for the respite.

Marian shook her head sharply at herself. “I’m sorry, yes, of course it’s good to see you! I’m just… I’m surprised, I didn’t expect…” She approached him slower than she wanted to… he didn’t seem particularly happy to see her.

Garrus pinned her with a vicious look that stilled her advance. “That makes two of us.” He exhaled a low breath, chastising himself within the confines of his own mind… why was he being this way?! He’d screamed, wished, begged, pleaded for the chance to see her again… just… one more chance to talk to her… and here she was! Yet… he was so… damned… angry, now that she was here. He saw it poised, she wanted to say something else… and he wanted to hear it, he did… but he knew he’d just throw it back at her. An alarm went off… and he was actually grateful for _the job_. His attention snapped to his omni. “We’ve got company. So… are you here to help me, or kill me?” He looked at her coolly.

Marian’s expression fell… and then schooled into the soldier she was. “Recruit you. But since you need me to pull your ass of this shit storm you’ve put yourself in… I guess saving you would be a better description.” She didn’t spare him any of the attitude before she tapped her visor and it went all black once more, her pistol palmed… she started backing away, tapping on her omni. “I’ll take the lower levels, stay up here.” She commanded, pointing at him. “Do. Not. Die.”

Garrus swallowed against the tension in his throat, a muscle jumping in his jaw as he saw the hurt on her face… in her eyes… before she hid behind the mask of _Shepard._ Marian… turned away from him and _Shepard_ appeared. The soldier, the Commander. He wanted to rush her, puller her in his arms, rip her helmet off, burry his face in her neck and breath her in, convince himself that she was _real_ … and tell her everything he never had. But he didn’t. He just watched her take over… and bore her orders. “Just like old times.” He said simply before pulling his rifle back up and taking position.

It was a gauntlet… just as he expected. Tends to happen when you piss _everyone_ off. But he fought harder… his vision was crisper… his focus… more. And he knew why. _She_ was down there. He couldn’t let a single one slip past the bridge… they would get to her if he did. He was _not_ going to lose her now. Not when he… he stilled that thought because he was pretty damn sure he’d just screwed it up before he even started _it_. But even the best plans go a rye… and when the mercenaries broke through the lower levels, in the basement… he knew that things were going to get dicey. He didn’t know _how_ dicey, but he knew they were going to get shitty, real fast. His heart hammered in his chest as he listened to her barking orders to her new team… he hadn’t missed the Cerberus colors… he shot a look at the man she had sent to protect him… her voice still ringing in his ears… _you protect him at all costs, do not let him die, Jacob, I don’t give a damn what you have to do!_ And the man’s return of _Yes, Commander!_ And the guy was taking the order to heart… _and_ he was a biotic. He was lining them up and Garrus was mowin’ them down. But what had him on the verge of a cardiac arrest was hearing her down there, in the basement levels… fighting with just that other woman… and no backup. He heard every shot that struck home… every time her shields went down… and he _hated_ it. Didn’t they understand?! _He_ didn’t matter! Every time he tried to leave, tried to go help, that asshole, Jacob, would throw him back against the low wall… yell at him to keep his ass down. When she came rushing back up the stairs… having sealed off the basement… Garrus felt like his chest was going to explode. He just couldn’t… it was all too much. But he had to keep fighting, they weren’t done yet. He was quiet while she riddled out their escape… he heard… his attention snapped to the wide window… and the gunship. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” He heard the guns whirling, starting up… getting ready. He didn’t think twice… he rushed forward, arm thrown around her waist… sent her flying to the side, throwing her out of the way… and that’s when his world took a hard left. Blinding white light, searing pain… it felt like his face exploded. He was weightless and then he landed _hard_. His teeth rattled, everything went dark… his ears rang… he couldn’t… he tried to get up… even though he couldn’t see… everything was… _Garrus!!_ She sounded… so far away. “Mare…” He croaked… tasted the sharp tang of blood on his tongue… his stomach lurched… he felt as though he was thrown again and landed… but he just fell back down the few inches he’d managed to rise up… and that was it. He came to… eyes fluttering… body rolling, hand reaching up… “Mare.” He could barely whisper… he felt her hand ensnare his… her grip shook, but it was there. _Hold on, Garrus! Joker! Prep med bay! Tell them we’re coming! Garrus, you hold on, you hear me!_ Every word echoed… he could barely make her out… everything haloed around the outline of her. He reached with his other hand… felt the soft strands of her hair… funny that… he couldn’t feel anything else… but he could feel that. He worked his throat, tried to tell her… before he… before it was too late… the words died on his tongue as he slid from consciousness again. I love you.


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up with a gasp, a sharp intake of breath followed quickly by a deep cough that rattled his whole body. _Easy, easy there._ He heard… his brow furrowed in confusion and recognition both. “Doctor Cha.. Chakwas?” He looked at her… was he dreaming, had it all been a dream?! He looked around frantically for a moment… his heart rate climbing. “Where…” He was on the Normandy!? “What…” Had the last two years never happened!?! But… quickly, he learned that those were but foolish hopes. The doctor’s uniform, Cerberus colors… confirmed it all. Damn it. He sat there as the Doc worked on his face, smoothing over the gels that would seal the last of the scars. “Where um… where is..” _She was with you the whole time, Garrus. I sent her to her quarters to get some sleep in a real bed… and I think she got wrangled into a meeting with that asshole that runs this sham show._ He nodded… and quickly learned that her, Joker… and apparently Marian… were only working with Cerberus for a single purpose. They had to. They didn’t want to. But it was better than nothing. And… from Chakwas he learned… that Cerberus was the ones who found Marian… found her body… and put her back together… brought her back. He openly stared at the slides the Doc showed him… what little she’d been able to get access to. He hadn’t been on board the Normandy when it had been hit… he… he didn’t know. “She…” He felt his eyes stinging as he stared at the _cause of death_. He closed his eyes tight and handed the data pad back. _Suffocated… yes._ He nodded… and took her direction on where to find the Commander. When he came breezing into the com room, he had schooled his features, gone was the man who had been near tears a few minutes ago… and in his place was the fierce Turian she knew him to be. _Tough son of a bitch._ Jacob paid him the awe filled compliment. He just smirked humorlessly and gave a subtle nod. “It’ll take a lot more than that to put me down.” He looked at her carefully. “They wouldn’t give me a mirror… tell me the truth, Shepard… how bad is it?” He gestured… showing her the right side of his face.

Marian was relieved beyond measure to see Garrus on his feet… but she was fairly certain that… he had zero interest in any form of relationship beyond the professional. So… she didn’t rush him like she wanted to. She kept it light. “Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly… slap some war paint on that and no one will know the difference.” She fought the smirk that was tugging at her as she set her hands on the com panel in front of her, Jacob chuckling as he saluted her and left.

Garrus likewise chuckled, he couldn’t help it. Her humor and smartass nature was one of the many things about her that had ensnared him so easily. When that man, Jacob, left… he glanced around the room and then back at her… the awkwardness level skyrocketing. “So… Cerberus.” He gauged her reaction carefully… he saw the pained expression, the disappointment on her face… and when she started to defend her decision, he held a hand up to silence her. “They brought you back. That’s all it takes to get my vote.” His tenor had gone rough there at the end, he cleared his throat and absentmindedly brushed some of his hair back, the dirty blonde strands naturally clumped and spied at the end, giving Turians their trademark look. He saw her expression go disbelieving for a microsecond. That brief moment in time was enough to chip at him, know that he’d hurt her with his callous attitude on Omega. But he just… couldn’t. He felt that anger welling up inside of him. He wasn’t moments from death now… so naturally, he would have rolled his eyes at himself if he could… naturally, he wasn’t _there_ right now. His anger was back in full force… and it came through in his voice. “How long ago was that.”

Marian didn’t know where he stood and she didn’t really want to know. She knew he was hurting… but Turians were… hell, _he_ was… far more complicated than anyone really knew. She knew that once… there might have… hell, she had no idea actually. She could have been deluding herself. Still might be. But she had once thought of him as a friend. His sharp question that came out more as a demand had her look at him carefully. “I’m told it took nearly two years… I wouldn’t know.” She cleared her throat, her London-born accent going thick. “I woke up last week. I have brief… memories… of waking up… regaining consciousness… while… they were still…” Her brow creased deeply as she remembered the unimaginable pain. “But… no concept of time.”

Garrus drifted closer but not too close. “But are you still you… or did they change that as well.” He bit out the words, his hands fisting at his sides. “Your memories? Your…” His voice clipped off there at the end… he wanted to say _your heart_.

Marian looked away from him and focused on the display in front of her, swallowing down the lump in her throat, the tightness a sharp pain as the memory of… space… stabbed into her. “I remember… _everything_.” She said it so quiet… her nostrils flaring as her vision started to swim… her breath rattled as she took a far deeper one than she needed to.

Garrus didn’t know… what she was thinking of that affected her so. Blinded by his own pain… he could say nothing else except. “Good.” He ground out roughly before turning and storming out of the room. “I’ll be in the battery.” He managed as he rounded the corner.

Marian’s brows rose, eyes flaring at the hurt that went through her. The memory… she closed her eyes tight, tears falling down her cheeks… she gripped the railing in front of her… her lungs burning… she felt her body trying to pull apart… she couldn’t… she reached for her throat… clawing at it as her knees gave way and she went down. She couldn’t breathe…


	3. Chapter 3

Garrus was in a world of anger and hurt… he barely noticed Doctor Chakwas rushing past him… aiming for… he blinked… paused… turned and looked… Doctor Chakwas rushed into the coms room. He heard her voice but not what she was saying… it sounded… almost panicked. He shook his head and turned back… cursed under his breath before going back. He paused just outside… leaning just enough… his expression eased out of his angry look… lips peeling apart as he saw… Marian barely hanging onto the railing, her hand around her throat… she looked like… she couldn’t breathe. Chakwas had her hand on her back… _Marian, listen to me. You can breathe, you have oxygen… you must slow down… breathe, Marian, just breathe…_ Marian was shaking her head _no_ … trying to talk but nothing was coming out… he saw the reflection of tears falling… her whole body was shaking. The ships AI suddenly sounded off. _Doctor Chakwas, the Commander’s heart rate is accelerating and her oxygen levels are reaching minimal levels for human life. The memory recourse is the strongest one yet, I advise notifying Miranda._ He saw Doctor Chakwas wave off the AI… and keep her focus on Marian. _Marian, listen to me, you are safe. You have air, you can breathe. You are not in space. You can breathe._ Realization dawned on him… she was… remembering… _I remember everything._ He closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head at himself and his own… selfish… fucking… _Good._ He whipped around the corner, charging in and brushing past Chakwas, much to her shocked bark of a question and demand… he pulled Marian into his arms, wrapped around her, splayed his hand over hers, stilling her clawing… set his lips to her ear, his scarred side of his face to her. “Easy now, Mare. I’m here.” His tenor came out rough. “I’m right here.” She was fucking trembling… he closed his eyes tight and took a deep breath… slow and purposeful. “Breathe with me, Angel…” He reached up and eased her hand off the railing, lacing his fingers with hers instead… pulling her arm down… wrapping around her entirely… easing his weight down to sit instead of crouch… pulling her down with him. He was vehemently ignoring Chakwas… especially since the mature woman had gone silent. He felt Marian trying to breathe… she was trying… gripping his hand so tight, as if she was terrified to let go. And who wouldn’t be? If she was remembering the dark… cold… nothingness of space… and… he felt a shudder go through him as he dipped down and set his lips to her shoulder… and… dying alone. His eyes closed, they still shook, tears still formed. “I’m right here.” He whispered low again. He didn’t know how long it took… but she was breathing… not as steady as him… but she was fucking breathing again. And crying… sagging against him as she wept… not openly, because that was just not who she was… she had turned, hiding her face against his shoulder, away from Chakwas… who took the hint and left quietly. He just held her, tight against him, but not too tight… though he wanted to just… crush her to him… convince himself that she was _real_. He shushed her quietly, ran his hand down her hair… his proud Shepard… so strong but… so fragile. Especially now. Memories coursed through him as he sat there and she spent her fearful pain. The feeling of her hair sliding through his fingers… and how it once felt splayed over his chest. He hadn’t told her then… what he’d wanted, he’d been too afraid. Too afraid of her… of what it meant… of what _they_ meant. Of stupid… superficial crap… he was a Turian… she was a human… back then it seemed to matter so much. He remembered his father… and the argument that they’d had over her.

_You don’t know her._

_She is human, I know enough. It’s not possible, Garrus. You are my son, there are things expected of you, you know this. You are a c-sec officer. You cannot throw away everything because of a passing fascination on a backwater species._

_Don’t you dare say that about her. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Marian means—_

_She can never mean anything to you. You are confused. She’s a specter, while impressive, that is what you are truly attracted to. Her advancement, her appeal is in her strength, not her. You are destined for much greater things and you cannot allow your infatuation with this creature to taint your entire future._

Back then… his father’s word had been law and he had actually believed him… in a way. So he’d kept himself at arm’s length. But it didn’t matter. When she was… lost… so was he. He remembered exactly where he was when he learned about it. He was standing in c-sec headquarters, right beside his father. They were just standing there, going over a report… he had just entered into Specter training himself… a proud moment for his father and he remembered how proud Marian had been of him, how happy she had been for him. When… over the screens, the news report came through. _The SR1 Normandy has been attacked… most of the crew… Commander Shepard has been lost to space… reports confirm… alone… no trace…_ he had dropped the data pad in his hands, remembered the sound of it shattering on the floor at his feet. His lungs screamed as his eyes were fixed on the screen… he remembered jerking his shoulder out from under his father’s hesitant touch. He remembered whispering her name… _Mare._ He remembered the tears that fell on their own… the way he couldn’t breathe… the way he turned away suddenly and stormed through the Citadel… the way his father had tried to catch up to him. He had gone to the human embassies. Demanded they search _harder_. His mind leapt to the last time he was on the Citadel. He was in c-sec again. They were telling him that the search for Commander Shepard had been suspended. He yelled, threw things… his father had tried to calm him… he just yelled more… and finally… threw down his badge… and walked away. The next time he talked to his father was a week before the fiasco on Omega.

 _What do you want?_ Garrus had been cold… still so… twisted up inside.

_Garrus, please. I… if I had known how much… you cared about the human…_

_She has a name! Marian! Her name was… Marian._ He had yelled at first, gone quiet at the end. _And I loved her. I would give anything… just to see her again. Without her… I am lost. I don’t know what I’m doing._ He confessed quietly, shamefully.

 _I apologize. I know that feeling._ Garrus closed his eyes tightly. He knew… his father had loved his Mother deeply… and when he lost her… it was… devastating. _Trust in my words, son… it will get better. It doesn’t seem like it now… but it will. One day, you will be able to wake up and not immediately think of her. One day… you will be able to go sleep and not reach for her. But not a day will pass that you don’t think of her. I know what you’ve been doing… and you’re doing good work. Unorthodox, but good. We all make mistakes, my son… us Vakarian men… do so marvelously. But please… don’t forget who you are._

Now, Garrus held her against him… knowing he was being given the rare gift of a second chance. His tenor came out thick and wet when he spoke low. “I am _so_ sorry… that I wasn’t there.” He felt her turning further, moving, her arms around his neck… he pulled her, swayed, buried his face in her neck as he wanted to do when he first saw her. He breathed her in… felt his sorrow welling up inside of him. “I was lost without you.” He confessed. _Garrus._ He heard… so much in the way she said his name. He couldn’t say any more. He just… couldn’t. He sat there for… he didn’t even know how long but by the time she pulled away, she had spent her tears. He wiped her face gently… his own eyes swollen and red… he couldn’t stop himself. He covered her lips with his own, sucking in a sharp breath as he closed his eyes, his hand cupping her cheek. He felt her hand on his jaw… he tasted her tears… the way her lips were already swollen from crying. His entire body screamed out of nowhere, as if it had been dead this whole time right along with her. When she pulled away again… attempting to break the kiss, he followed… a shuddered breath following once the seal was broken. _Garrus…_ she breathed, it skirted over his lips… he licked them, tasting her there. _I’m sorry. I’m so sorry._ He shook his head at her. He knew… it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t chose… this… any of this. His expression said just that, his brow lowering, becoming slashes over his eyes. “It’s done.” He swallowed against the stickiness in his throat… knowing he was already leaning back towards her… his eyes wanting to close. Damn… he wanted to touch her… he wanted to kiss her… wanted… her. He hadn’t touched anyone else… except once. And that one time had riddled him with guilt so much that he couldn’t handle it. It was about six months after she had been lost… he’d gotten rip roaring drunk… and he didn’t even know how it happened… but he could hardly remember it aside from the fact that it had been meaningless and angry. He hadn’t touched anyone since. He just… couldn’t. He suspected that… a part of him just knew… that she wasn’t really gone. That she was out there somewhere. Even if the rest of him thought _that_ part of him was insane.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Puts on helmet- Smut incoming!!!!! *bomb goes off*

The next thing he knew… he was helping her to her feet… wrapping his arm around her shoulders and walking with her, slow and easy… tucked her in against his side, where she belonged as far as he was concerned. His head dipped, focus shrunk down to a pin point… _her_. The entire galaxy faded away… the ship could be burning down around them and he wouldn’t know it. He reached, knowing the ship by heart, even if it was but a copy. He slapped the elevator’s control panel… guided her in when the door whooshed open… pressed his thumb to the number _1_ on the inside panel… and shuddered internally at the feeling of her arm going around his waist. A minute later, he was walking her off the elevator… across the hall… and into her quarters, quarters that once belonged to Anderson… on a different ship… in a different life. He heard the lock engage behind them… a small smirk tugging at him… so the AI was good for something.

The only light to be had was from the stars above… and that hideous fish tank… that had nothing in it. He swayed with her slow at the end of the bed… his nose brushing against hers… he additional nostrils that usually laid flat exposing themselves… and his intentions. The features of his species always becoming more pronounced when he desired. He drug her scent in deep… his olfactory picking apart all the different nuances that made her up. He could sense the slight tang of metal… her additional implants… what was required to piece her back together. But definitively her. And his body responded as it always had… even before he’d had the nerve to touch her all those years ago. His muscles all flooded… all flexed and filled out his clothes… desperate for her to take notice of him. He reached up… pulled his visor off slow… it hung from his fingertips for a moment… before he let it slip… heard it hit the floor in a soft _plunk_. His hands hung there… he set his brow to hers… nuzzled at her more intently, swaying towards her… eyes closing when he felt the zipper on his med bay provided hoody descending… her hands on him. Revealing the blue markings that trekked across his chest… void of the nipples that males of her species had… the hard lines of his muscles jumped under her touch. His lips parted, slack as his breathing kicked up, his heart starting to pound in a double rhythm. She pushed the sleeves down his arms… chills broke out over his skins when her palms ran over the slight spiked hooks on his elbows… on board weaponry… he had another set on his calves.

He instinctively bared his teeth slowly… the sharp incisors revealed to her… showing his predatory nature as he opened his mouth in a wide gasp at the feeling of her hands running over his abdomen. Like the nipples, he lacked a belly button as well… his hands fisted at his sides when he felt her fingers tuck into his waistband… he rubbed his brow against her harder… his temple against hers… down further… shadowing her lips as the tension climbed between them. When the first button on his pants came undone, he chuffed for her. The deep rhythmic breath vibrated out of him… hit the fine hairs on her skin, causing it to break out in chills… his frills vibrating on his nose. He took in a suddenly sharp breath when his pants fell… sliding down as his thighs jumped and his groin tightened at being revealed. His body attentive for her. He rolled his lower lip in, wet it down almost messily… sucked on it sharply for a moment… let his mouth fall open, his muscles trembling all over when he felt her kneel… he stretched his jaw out when she unbuckled his boots. He stepped out when she guided him… her hand on his calf… just below that hook… back on his own feet but far from steady… he looked down at her… his pupils pulled into thin slits in response to his need. His sclera having bloomed over to all black… causing his turquoise irises to stand out drastically.

He wanted to reach for her… so bad his fingers itched. But he didn’t. That was… not how this was done. He was oddly traditional in this single aspect… and she had always… respected it. Always kept to the way of his people for him. His heart melted… his chest cracking wide open at the way she looked up at him. The blue tattoos over his chest continued over his arms, down his hips and thighs. The same tattoos that were on his face… though now… some were missing from his fresh scars. Scars she seemed not to notice… not to care about… she looked at him as she always had only now… it seemed _more_. More sincere… more intense… more everything. She stood slow… running her hands up his body… he swayed from the feeling… his length jumping for attention… attention she’d not give, not yet. As was expected. Once she was on her feet again… he reached for the buttons on her coat… he took his time… each button revealed either underclothing or skin. Each one undone was one closer to her. He kept at the way his brow was pressed to hers, at the way he nuzzled at her… randomly chuffing for her.

The way this was done for Turians was almost ritualistic in nature… for a warrior race… many were surprised to find that _this_ was taken slow… when it was with their mate. And that was what she was to him, what she had always been to him. Even when he’d tried to shield his heart. This was what she was. Always. His. He peeled her tank top from her… his breath fleeing his lungs at the sight of her body… of all her skin… his mouth flooded at the sight of her breasts… he remembered well the way they felt on his tongue. He ran the backs of his fingers down the peaks… over the ends that sharpened under his attentions. Further… down her smooth abdomen… he splayed his hand over her lower abdomen meaningfully… as he had always done… a silent promise of what he desired… one day. He held her eye meaningfully… a flicker of hope… just there on the horizon. He dipped his fingers into her waistband… slid them around… feeling the way her muscles moved… her hips… behind… and further.

He felt to a kneel smoothly… holding her gaze as he worked her boots… setting his lips to her thighs… feather light, sliding his kisses from one to the other. He let his kisses linger over her skin as he stood back up… feeling her breasts graze his cheeks as he kissed a trail between them… his hands ghosted her face as he shadowed her lips once more. Feeling her hands gently cradle his elbows… then biceps… he ushered her… laid her down on the bed. He crawled up her body, running his chin along the length of her… spreading the slight tang of his personal scent… marking her as his, the pores opening in his want. He spent an hour kissing her body… featherlight in some places… firmer in others. His hands massaging muscles… worshiping this vessel of hers. He culminated his travels between her thighs… cleaving her with his tongue, forcing her back to arch… her fingers to tangle in his hair… her beautiful voice to rise up out of her. His length wept at the remembered taste of her… thick and slick on his tongue and lips… he swallowed her down possessively when she gave him more… his tongue, stronger and longer than the males of her species, slid into her… tasted her intimately, his sharp teeth grazing her tender folds enough to make her writhe for him.

Thus was the way… the female chose the male… inspected him… in a certain sense… and then submitted to him… he inspected her in her most intimate ways… committed her to memory… and controlled the encounter. It sounded cold and clinical… it was anything but. He cradled her hips… felt her body moving for him… felt the muscles shifting… his groin starting to scream from disuse… desperation driving him to work her faster than he ever had, or ever thought to. A low growl rumbling from him as he tasted her release… a masculine satisfaction flooding him as he nuzzled down into her… smearing her over his lips and chin… desperate to be lost in her as he felt that part of himself pulling at him. That dark, primal… ancient part… demanding to be recognized. He slid away… lips slack, mouth hanging open as he panted… his breath sawing… baring his teeth every inhale… slight but there… his stare intent, predatory… her hands on his cheeks… fingers hooking under his jaw… pulling him… welcoming him.

He climbed up her body… hands gripping her hips roughly, jerking her to him as he slid his thighs beneath hers… spreading his knees in preparation. His muscles all tense, flooded with territoriality… demand. His hips rolled away… lower back flexing… his fingers clawing at her when he felt her against the end of himself. The barb on the underside of himself extending… revealing itself… ready. He braced his weight over her… knowing he couldn’t be touching her when he entered her, he’d hurt her before… he’d never do it again. He felt himself find her… her body give just enough… he pushed… his hands immediately fisted, clawing at the blankets of her bed, hearing the fabric tearing as he bared his teeth and growled deep… watched her intently as she tried to hold his eye… while he forced his way into her.

She was… not built for him… she was always so… tight… at first. But her body would accept him. It always had. It always would. His breath rushed from him when her part slid over his barb, that portion always the most sensitive… he wept into her immediately… his abdomen curling as he filled her completely, feeling her body grip him, pull him, clutch him, pulse around him… felt her feet tuck behind his knees… felt the hooks on his calves lock around her ankles… he covered her immediately, he couldn’t stop it… the hooks on his elbows digging into the mattress, locking in… pinning her beneath him. He was… lost to her. He shadowed her lips… one hand finally able to burry in her hair, only to grip it… but not hurt her… just hold her, keep her. His other, he forced himself to gently run his fingers down her cheek… show her this tenderness… while he waited… agonizingly… for her body to accept him entirely.

As soon as he felt the subtle ease around himself… he began. He withdrew slow… his hips snapped forward… teeth bared… fell into a steady rhythm where his hips swung… his abdomen curled… she clawed at his back… he drove her to the edge and over… again… and again… sweat bloomed out over him… his hair wet… hanging on his brow as he worked. He… was desperate… chasing that moment… seeking it… wanting it. _Needing it._ His name on her lips called to him… as it always had. His tenor… he worked it out of his throat… gravel filled and broken… he told her what he’d been hanging onto. “I love you…” He breathed… gasped when he felt himself draw up… everything go painful for that brief moment. Her return was what overthrew him, broke him… _I love you, Garrus… so much…_ he stifled the roar that wanted to erupt out of him as he felt his barb about to engage… he withdrew with a breathless curse… his barb engaging a second later as he came between her legs.

His lips pressed to hers as he spilled… angry that he had to there… angry that he couldn’t finish within her, that he couldn’t fill her entirely. That anger was always there… in that moment… when he pulled her against him harder, when he sexed her mouth demandingly… when his barb hooked into _nothing_. It always felt _wrong_ in that single moment. His hands always dove down to her hips, pulling at her… he always surged atop her… he always had to hastily reach between them and cup her sex, cover her… bar himself, block himself. This time was the most difficult yet… the hardest to remember… the hardest to make himself do that. It took a few minutes before he could breathe clearly… before his mind stopped melting down on him… before his body stopped trying to get back inside of her… before he could ease down onto her… settle his weight comfortably… and nuzzle against her neck lovingly… as he always did after. Nip at her almost playfully… enjoy the soft laughter that he could pull from her… his heart warmed… she loved him. He nipped at her earlobe… his voice still ragged. “Mate of mine.” He called her… felt her hold him tighter. She didn’t deny him. It was done.


	5. Chapter 5

Garrus always found it odd that… he was the happiest while the galaxy was tearing itself apart. While doom was just on the horizon… he couldn’t be filled with more… hope. He fought harder than he ever had… because he had something to fight _for_. When they were done with the Collector War… he hated to leave her… but he knew he had to, she knew it… she bid him go. He went to his father… the Reapers were coming and he wasn’t going to let his pride get in the way.

He stood there before Castis, his expression hard as he felt ages old tension. Even though his father had attempted to reconcile, he was still… well… _him_. “I have given you all the information you require.” He stressed. His father was retired but he still had pull. “We cannot ignore the Reaper threat.”

“Because _she_ says so.” Castis replied coolly, folding his arms over his chest, taking in his son. The vicious scars on his face… the way he stood straighter… he was changed… for the better, but he’d not say. He still… he still didn’t like the match.

Garrus’ expression went… dangerous. “Watch your tone.” He said low, pure territorial fury snapping in his eyes.

Castis stilled… realization dawning on him entirely. _No…_ his son looked at him like any… mated Turian male… would when his mate was disrespected. He closed his eyes and shook his head slow. It’s done, then. He… there was no point in trying to sway him now. He looked down at the reports again… “Fine. I’ll… talk to the Primarch.” He said with surety. He knew this was going to go over… poorly.


	6. Chapter 6

Everything was in place… he knew it, they knew it, _she_ knew it. But… something was off. He could _feel_ it. His father… had sent him a brochure, a pamphlet. A ridiculous venture that was taking place… oddly enough. Someone… had tipped their cards… quite a long fucking time ago. And was sending… so many people away. Arks. Five of them. Were all leaving. Twenty thousand colonists on each one. It was all hush hush… and he knew… why. He figured it out. But… how they managed to keep it under the ruse of science was beyond him. True, the Reapers hadn’t gotten here yet but… they would. They were already hitting the outlying systems. They were coming. There was no doubt. He was walking through the Presidio commons… aiming for their apartment. It was… again… the galaxy was staring down the end and here he was… a _hibiscus_ flower in one hand… a clip in his step, heading home… to her. Their apartment was small… but he didn’t mind. He pressed his key to the lock… the door _whooshed_ open, he walked in, tossed his keys on the small table by the door, eyes already looking for her. A smile tugging at him, lips wanting to curl as he saw her sitting by the window. They were lucky to have a view… she was curled up on the window seat, her feet tucked under her. They were on a rare respite… he worked his coat off and let it fall onto the back of the kitchen chair, exchanging the flower from one hand to the other… he knew she had to know he was there but she hadn’t looked at him yet. She might be so deep in thought… he smirked as he came up behind her, his hand settling on her neck, fingers working the tension he found. “Hey, Angel.” He bent low and kissed the top of her head before he brought the flower around for her.

Marian breathed a smile and leaned back against him slightly, taking the flower and giving it a smell… she looked up at him but had to look away quickly. _You don’t like it?_ He sat beside her… his insecurity pulling at him. She shook her head slightly. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” She added it to the vase on the sill… he brought her flowers all the time, and each one was special to her. She felt her chin shake… fear gripping her heart, squeezing it tight, despair pulling her down.

Garrus’ brow creased in confusion. His hold on her neck shifted to her shoulder. “Hey… what’s this?” He reached, ghosting his fingers over her brow and down her cheek. When she listed away, his confusion tripled. She usually didn’t… pull away from him. “If this is about… look, we’re getting ready. We’ve got everyone finally on board… except the council but… they’ll come around… and we’ve got—“ _It’s not that._ He blinked at her interruption and when she got up and walked away from him a few paces. “Mare… what’s going on.”

Marian couldn’t face him… she just… couldn’t. Her entire world was… crumbling. She covered her mouth… expression twisting into despair for a moment before she sniffled and tucked her hands in her back pockets and shrugged, a humorless laugh barking out of her at the situation. “I’m pregnant.” The words just dropped out of her mouth… and were met with nothing more than the hitching sound of her breath.

Garrus just… he blinked rapidly a few times… before he just… his lips pressed together in a tense line. The muscles in his neck and shoulders went taught… his lungs burned… he swallowed roughly. “… Are you sure…” _Yes._ He closed his eyes slow, trying to just… breathe. He _knew_ he’d made a mistake. He cussed loudly suddenly, on his feet as he slapped that vase on the sill, the only thing within reach, it went sailing across the room, shattering against the wall, water and flowers littering the floor among the glass. “Fuck!” He had been _weak_. He’d… not… withdrawn from her a few months past. He couldn’t… he caved. He submitted to that part of him that had been screaming inside of him for years. He justified that… surely one time… he cussed again, started to pace as aggression and anger at himself started to bleed out of him. “God… _damn it!_ ”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut blast from the past (it's like a flash back thing).  
> -  
> This was *not* non-con, btw.

Garrus was in rare form… he knew that. He knew he should… stay away from her tonight. But… what happened with the Turians on Tuchanka… and everyone being so god damned stubborn about joining forces… not believing her, not believing them!? Didn’t these political fools understand anything? And… Marian had been… baring the brunt of everything and everyone. Try as he might… their combined tensions had led to them picking fights with one another, both being headstrong. Tonight was no different… earlier had been a particularly nasty one. Even their companions had drifted away from them on Tuchanka… Marian wanted to cure the genophage… Garrus knew what an insane plan that was. The way she argued with him, the way she countered… then… _It’s not up to you Garrus, I will do as I see fit._ And a reply had burned in Garrus’ mind so bright that he had to storm away from her. Now though… he couldn’t be silent any longer.

He charged into her quarters, she looked up, her attention snapping from her email terminal. He was on her so fast… he knew he startled her, but he couldn’t… stop himself. He jerked her hoody off… ignored her startled gasp and question of _Garrus! What are you doing?!_ This… this was the other side of the mated Turian male. He had his face pressed into her neck, growling low as he gripped her rear, lifting and setting her on the desk, forcing his way between her knees. “You’re _mine._ ” He ground out… his hands between them… he slammed his eyes shut, trying to make himself _stop_. “Mare… I… I know you’re the Commander but…” He jerked the snaps of her pants… felt her hands on his shoulders… clutching at him as she gasped. “You do as _I_ say.” He bared his teeth with the word… sliding his lips over her skin, raking his teeth over her jaw before he covered her lips in a demanding kiss. He didn't mean them... but they flew out of him anyway... he just couldn't... 

He was… he didn’t know. He’d never been like this… he’d never felt this way before. He felt… like he was riding shotgun in his own body. He heard her cry out when he jerked her pants down between her and the desk… shifted… his boot slamming down on them to push them off entirely, she had thankfully already removed her boots for the night. He crowded her in the next moment… he chuffed almost too loud… the pens in the cup on her desk rattling. He was… so damned hard… it hurt. Everything in him was screaming he take her _now_ … that he mark her anew. Make her understand… make her know that she was _his_. _Garrus_ … his name on her lips… he had broken the kiss, shadowed… his nose flaring… his all black eyes looked down into hers… her pupils blown wide open.

She tried to kiss him… he evaded it teasingly before he kissed her… everything he was doing was in his control. He felt his shirt split down the front… felt her scalding hands on him… he groaned low at the feeling. He reached between them… fingers searching… still in disbelief on how fast he was moving in on her. He surged forward when he found her wet for him… his mind melted down with territoriality and that _need_. His fingers immediately clawed at his belt… the sound of his buckle jingled in the air… he pulled his cock out, his barb already extended, already eager… he set himself… hips twisted, snapped, he broke the kiss, growled almost wildly as she cried out. His hands clawed at her rear as he bared his teeth down at her… his mouth hung open as he withdrew and thrust back into her sharply. “You’re mine.”

He managed… his tenor rough and broken. He bared his teeth as he repeated… “ _Say it._ ” He ground out… her breathless voice was a balm on his fevered soul… _I’m yours, Garrus._ He felt a tremble race down his spine… he braced a hand on the desk behind her, bending her back… leaning… his stance widening as he started slamming into her with abandon. His scent bleeding out of him… he growled, groaned… she cried out as she undiluted around him… he threw his head back, everything was… desperate, wild… before he knew what he was even doing he was driving into her as deep as he could… his chin aimed at his chest, teeth digging into her shoulder.

She was holding onto him so tightly, her ankles locked behind him… he was… so close. Everything was going painfully tight… his lower back was starting to lock… his muscles all started to tense… he wanted to… he pressed his temple to hers sharply. “I… spirts, Mare… I don’t want to pull out…” He drove in deep, felt his barb starting to uncurl. “I can’t.” She cried out, snapping tighter around him. “I… can’t…”

He was breathless… she called out his name, her head thrown back as she came beautifully for him again. Her body pulsing around him threw him over… he damn near climbed onto the desk for how deep he tried to go, his hand slapped to her lower back, clawed at her as he stifled a roar against her neck… his barb hooked into her… and he spilled. Unimaginable pleasure washed over him as he flooded her… the muscles between his legs throbbing, his thighs quivering… she screamed… pain staining her voice… his tenor cut out, he couldn’t help it… he had locked into her.

He hadn’t been able to disengage from her for… quite a while. He had whispered words of devotion, lavished attentions, rained kisses down on her. When he managed to withdraw… her blood mixed with his seed was what followed him out. He frowned but cleaned her up gently… neither of them spoke of what had happened.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And back to "real time".

For hours… nothing more was said. She sat on the bed quietly… curled up as if she were protecting herself though he knew she was just… in a world of turmoil just as he was. He paced… sat some of the time… only to pace in agitation some more. _Why now?! Why! Not now! Please…_ he felt his own despair as the sun set… casting their studio into a failing light. He looked at her finally… letting… himself just feel this. She looked… scared… tired… lost. He crossed the room and climbed onto the bed, crawled to her, wrapped around her, pulling her against him as he eased her down. He felt her shudder against him… he reached… a hand that shook… slipped it beneath her sweater… his movements were far from smooth as he palmed her lower abdomen. He swayed under the intense feeling of territoriality and possession that flooded him… his child… was right there. He kissed her suddenly… it was hasty… rushed… needy. Clothing rustled… pulled… removed so unceremoniously. He… didn’t know what was happening. He couldn’t stop any of it. He didn’t slow… he didn’t even realize what he was doing. It was just as the kiss was… hasty, rushed… demanding and needy… he had never taken her like that before. He’d never felt that sense of urgency… as if it was all going to be taken away at any moment. He had her beneath him, was inside of her in minutes… working towards completion recklessly. She was crying out to him, begging for release… he was crushed against her, had to feel all of her, a tangle of limbs as he moved… his tenor working out of him as he surged, as she undiluted around him… he came in a rush of kisses, curses, and hushed words… of trembling embraces and desperate pleas for a future.

He laid there that night, unwilling to let her leave his side, even as she slept. He kept a protective arm around her… his mind racing… how… how was he going to protect his… family. He was thinking in circles… frustrated… he looked around the room, as if an answer would be there. His eyes landed on the brochure that had tumbled out of his pocket… laying on the floor… the blue and white emblem… _Andromeda Initiative._ A tentative plan took root… and gained speed. Come dawn, he was sitting in front of their private terminal… setting plans in motion.

Marian didn’t like the plans Garrus made… but she saw no other way. The day they left… was hard… but the only one that had to say goodbye was him. Marian watched as Edi… having redesigned her mech… stared back at her, a perfect replica. _Don’t worry, Shepard. I have studied you extensively, I will do as you would._ Edi… even sounded like her. Garrus and her, Edi, staged a knock down fight… and he left. At the Andromeda Initiative docking station, she waited. Her new identity… thanks to Liara, the only other person in on their ruse. And then… it was because she knew why. _Megan Simone_. She passed her documents over to the boarding worker… watched as they stamped them, glanced over her shoulder at Garrus… who gave her a subtle nod. Gill Villarian, or so his papers said, handed them over… another stamp and he walked with his… well, she was no one to him. They were both dock workers… just co-workers. He wanted to touch her… but didn’t dare. They stared at each other through the windows of their cryo-pods as he felt the meds kicking in… he mouthed the words to her… and they were returned. _I love you._ They had already said their somewhat goodbyes before they left their apartment that morning. _See you on the other side._ He thought. Liara had fudged their papers so much… Alec Ryder had helped her… so they wouldn’t know them… so Marian’s… condition… wasn’t detected.

Ark Hyperion left the Milky Way… taking with it… the greatest N7 Specter ever to have protected the system… and no one even knew… save for a single person left behind. Liara let out a ragged breath as she watched the ship leave. She knew the likelihood of their success… and knew she had to save as many as she could. “May we meet again, my friends.” She whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

“Okay, easy there… Mister Gill… Villarian.” The cryo bay nurse said soothingly as the Turian came to… coughing deeply. The vicious scars on his face spoke of another time, another life. But his stated occupation was dock worker? Odd. Considering he was on the list of the first wave to be woken, regardless of circumstances.

“Wha… who…” Garrus blinked, his mind fuzzy… he shook his head sharply as he sat up… the burning in his chest slowly subsiding as systems came online. _That’s you, dumbass._ He nodded and looked at the nurse. “Right… we… we made it?”

The nurse gave a comforting smile. “Yes. Not bad for a six hundred year long nap, hmm?”

Garrus smirked and nodded, looking around the sterile type environment he found himself in. “Where is um… how do I… find someone?” He questioned. The nurse gave him a gentle look, apparently that was a common question. _You can enter their name just over there, but not yet… you need to get your legs under you again._ He nodded and took a deep breath. Turns out, he didn’t even have to look for her. He heard her. The sudden gasp, the sharp scream… he whipped around and saw her, arms struggling against nurses. “Hey!” He was on his feet, though he stumbled slightly, brushing past his own nurse. “Hey, get off her!” He took hold of one human and jerked him back with a strength that he knew shocked them. He forced his way to her face, cradled her cheeks and put himself there, felt her hands on his shoulders, struggling. “Ma… Megan.” He remembered… and said her new name firmly. “Easy now… I’m right here. You’re just fine. You can breathe.” He repeated the mantra. “You have air… you can breathe. You’re not in space… you’re not alone.” He felt the confusion and suspicions around him. When she eased… he glanced up at the nurses, shifting his weight slightly. “She… had an incident years ago… a malfunction in her rebreather while she was… working on the external hall of a ship. It still messes with her sometimes.” The look of understanding was welcomed as he looked back down at her.

Marian gasped for breath, desperate… welcomed breath. “G… Gill.” She remembered to. He nodded and she let out a relieved sigh… sagging back against the recovering bed. “We made it.” She breathed… he nodded and smirked. The nurses were all still slightly confused over why dock workers were on the first wave… but… they let it go, they had others to revive.

Garrus had them dressed and at the cargo bay within fifteen minutes… their meager belongings passed to them. Two rucksacks… they had packed lighter than required. Those two sacks plus the two vacuumed sealed bags of their clothing, just one outfit each… their _dress out_ clothes they were called… what they had been wearing before they changed into their cryo suites. They changed… and were on the Nexus in no time flat… they went through Immigration. He was a ball of hidden nerves as he watched the Turian behind the counter scan their documents… the screen flashed red for a moment… the female tapped it… it went back to green. She just shrugged it off. But… they were sequestered. He… hated that. They were told they had to remain on the Nexus for twenty-four galactic hours. Standard protocol. He walked with her, kept his fingers laced with hers. Now that they were here, no one knew them… no one would be any the wiser. They could be a couple… and that was okay.

Marian had to keep her hood up… and she hated the way people kept looking at her, though she knew they were just glancing, she couldn’t help but feel the scrutiny. “We need to get out of here.” She breathed to him. Garrus nodded… they spent half the time listening to rumors. Apparently… things hadn’t gone as planned. Not… at… all. But… Ryder’s child… was fixing things, slowly, but surely.

Garrus had heard of the few worlds that had been established thus far. Eos, Kadara, Voel, and Eladen. He also heard what had happened to the Krogan. He didn’t care for that too much… not at all actually. He escorted Marian to the bar… this… Vortex. It was apparently the only place to speak in private… he bought them drinks though she didn’t actually drink any. He ducked low to speak to her, discussing which planet they should go to. Eos was newly settled but it was a desert wasteland. Kadara was mountainous but there were bandits and exiles there. Voel was frozen… and Eladen was basically Tuchanka part two. None sounded ideal. But… oddly enough… Kadara seemed the most habitable. “Apparently Sloan Kelly… is the king pin there… she was an alliance soldier before all this mess.” He tapped discretely on his omni… knowing damn well that a dock worker wasn’t supposed to have one. “She had a clean record, a hot head… but otherwise fine. As long as we avoid her… and any other alliance soldiers that might recognize us… we should be fine there.” He held her worried eyes and saw her resolve settle, he set his brow to hers and let out a rough breath… before he went tense and immediately set his hand to the pistol on his thigh, hidden beneath his long coat. The pistol he’d smuggled in… thanks to Alec Ryder and Liara T’Soni. _Garrus? Is that you?!_ It was a rough voice… he didn’t move… but he heard it getting louder. _Well I’ll be…_ he reached, snatched… pulled… the Krogan came into view, his hand on his collar. Recognition flickered…

Wrex held a hand out… settled down into the booth… eyes flaring wide when… “Shep—“ A hand covered part of his mouth, he saw panic in her eyes. “What in the hell are… you two…” He looked around, keeping his voice low.

Garrus was relieved beyond measure that it was Wrex… and not someone else. “Long story.” He looked at him carefully… “What are you doing here?”

Wrex smirked. “Longer story.” He looked around before gesturing. “Come on. I know somewhere quiet we can talk…” He lead on, waiting for… _Gill._ “Gill.”

Garrus kept Marian against him as he followed Wrex… down to the docking bay… further… and to a transport ship. Once inside, he was immediately ensnared in a too familiar hug, he coughed, gurgled and hated it. “Okay… okay… _enough_.” He growled out.

Wrex pulled back and reached for Marian only for a dangerous growl to come out of the Turian that time. He retreated and gave him a knowing grin. “It’s about damned time, Garrus.” He rolled his eyes at the look they gave him. “Now, gonna tell me what the hell you two are doing here? Last I heard… you two were going to make a final push… against the…” His words started to die out as he watched Garrus pull Marian in… and reach across his body… to settle his hand on her abdomen in a very protective and telling move. Wrex felt warmth bloom in his chest for his friends. He just… grinned… like a big dopey idiot. “Well I’ll be damned.” He barked out a chuckle. “I’ll be god damned.” He held a hand up. “Say no more, say _no more_.” He knew… that they knew… how much children meant to the Krogan.

Garrus shied away from the praise… but welcomed it at the same time. He was proud of his family… they spent time on Wrex’ transport though the notice came up on Wrex’ scanner that he couldn’t leave with them on board for another ten hours, even though he hadn’t tried. He spoke at great lengths with him, they both did… conspiring on where to go. Wrex agreed, and said that it sucked, but agreed that Kadara was actually their best shot. And he was going to set them up nice and good. Even though Garrus tried to talk him out of it, Wrex wouldn’t hear of it. He was their friend… and he counted them as family. That night, they left the Nexus… surrounded by Krogan who trusted their leader… and welcomed their new passengers. But Wrex didn’t tell them of Marian’s condition… a fact he was grateful for.


	10. Chapter 10

It had been six months in Andromeda… Garrus sat on the metal porch of their eastern inspired dwelling on Kadara, tucked into the hills and well protected… by his own defenses and the fees he paid Sloan. Even though he lived in the Badlands. They were always well supplied… and left alone. His defenses were mostly for the local wildlife… which were, oddly enough, learned by now. They stopped trying to come around. He looked down over the covered area where Marian was working… she had grown large with his child… and he couldn’t help but smile softly as he watched her tend their garden. The hydroponics system she had set up… and tended meticulously reminded him that she had once been on a colony herself, grew up there, in fact. The seeds she started with had been bartered for expensively. He was light one very impressive sniper scope… but it was worth it. The food she was growing was… damn. Wrex had even managed to get his hands on some Turian melon seeds. The climate on Kadara was temperate… there was never any storms… never even an unpleasant evening. It was… a paradise, really. Once you got used to the wildlife and watching your back whenever you left the safety of their valley. This wasn’t temporary, he realized… in that moment. This was their life now. She wasn’t a Commander anymore. He wasn’t a c-sec Officer anymore. He let a small nostalgic smile tug at him as he watched the wind play with her hair… in a moment he was back on the citadel… arguing with his superior officer… turning away in frustration at being denied more time to find evidence against Saron... when he huffed, paced, looked up… and that was it. His eyes found hers… if he knew then what he knew now… he would have taken her hand and ran with her, stole her away immediately. She had been… so beautiful. She still was. Even more so now… he watched as she straightened, her hand going to the small of her back as she stretched out the muscles there… her distended belly stretching her shirt… she was… even more precious now. Not just to him, he knew that. The Nexus would stop at nothing to get their hands on her. She was… the first of the Milky Way species… she was due to bring the first child in Andromeda from any of them. Months before any others. Storms rolled in his eyes over the single encounter that had gotten too close for his comfort. They were in the Angaran outpost far to the west of Kadara Port… she had started to show but they thought, maybe… with the added cloak of sorts… no one would notice. People didn’t tend to stare too much there… and they almost made it out. But an Angaran female had spotted Marian as she loaded a crate into their rover. It drew… attention. Roakar had surrounded them… Garrus had Marian between him and their rover… his frills open wide as he bared his incisors fiercely, growling viciously as he swung his pistol around at each of them. They apparently, had never faced a mated Turian… they paused… and all the noise he was making drew even _more_ attention. Turians. Three Turian males came running… sliding to a stunned stop when they saw what Garrus was protecting… his hand behind him, splaying over her abdomen protectively. Marian had a pistol as well, aiming it… her expression fierce and threateningly, daring them to advance. Garrus… had never been more grateful in his entire life than in that moment when those men charged into the fray, Turia flying from them as they challenged the Roakar… drew weapons and made it clear that they’d stand with him. It was the last time he allowed her to go with him… and they gained allies. Vain, Tallus, and Drand… all smugglers and all three shaddy as hell but Turian through and through. They were proud that the first child was to be a Turian… at least in part. Vain had looked on Marian with a kind grin, the older Turian said that it was fortuitous… that the first child was to be a blending of species… that it spoke of what he had hoped their voyage to Andromeda would have been. Him and his small crew routinely brought them supplies… it was them who delivered the seeds that Wrex had gotten for them. Vain had two sons that were still in Cryo… on board the Turian Ark… wherever it was. Tallus’s wife was there as well… he had been ejected, his cryo pod found on Eladen. Drand had been part of the Nexus exiles.


	11. Chapter 11

Garrus was chuckling, ducking away from Marian’s attempt to swat him as he watched her try to tie her shoes. “I could get that… you know, if you stopped trying to hit me.” He set his coffee cup down on the counter. She had gotten so big… it’d be any day now… and he was as cool as Palaven’s northern territory on the outside… inside? He was freaking smooth out. He’d been reading every data pad that Wrex had managed to get to him on human child birth. The documents were hard to come by without raising suspicions. Still… he was terrified. He knew, by the very nature of their situation, it would be up to him. He ignored her narrow-eyed look as she stubbornly tried to do it herself again… finally he knelt and brushed her hands away, smirking again as she cussed under her breath. “Don’t worry, Angel… soon… you’ll be back to your old self.” He tied the knot firmly and looked up at her… his expression softening. He had felt so tender towards her lately… Vain had explained it to him. Turian males changed hormonally when their mates drew near, it turned them gentler… to accept the young’s proximity to their mates without being just as protective as they were any other time. To accept aid from others. He reached… his hand slipping around her cheek as he rocked up to kiss her gently. She was so damned beautiful… their terminal going off startled him out of the moment. Wrex’ voice came through, crackled and… panicked. _Garrus! Marian! Shit… shit… answer!_ Garrus rushed over and flipped the switch. “Yeah, Wrex, what’s wrong?” He felt Marian come up beside him. _Shit! Garrus! Your secret’s out man! The Pathfinder heard rumors in Zarek, he’s on his way! I don’t know if Nexus knows yet or not but he’s the fucking Pathfinder! I’m on my way but he’s got a good ten hour head start!_ Garrus felt his heart flip on him. Marian was in no condition to fight. He looked at her carefully… she gave him a subtle nod. “Thanks, Wrex. Just get here.” He heard Wrex bark out _What the hell do you think I’m doing!?_ He swapped channels and started hailing Vain and the boys. “Vallarian calling Three Knight. Come back.” The answer was almost immediate. _Vallarian, Go Ahead._ “We’re in some shit. Apparently, the Pathfinder’s heading this way. Could really use a front line.” _What about a bail out?_ “That’s a negative. It’s… too close.” _Shit. We’re on our way. ETA… about three hours. Stay Strong, brother._ Garrus nodded as he clicked the terminal off and shut it down. “I gotta disconnect the antenna.” He started away but felt her hand hook into his elbow… he stopped and felt her hand settle on his cheek. He turned into her so fast, wrapping around her, a shudder going through him. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He breathed. _I know you won’t._ He nodded, stole a kiss and got to work.

Garrus turned the wrench, throwing his back into it… it had taken an infuriating amount of time to shut everything down, they had been so well connected and so well set up. Damn never everything they had could be picked up on high class sensors, which he knew that Pathfinder would have. He cussed when the bolt slipped, stripped the slightest bit. He wanted to hit the damned thing but he didn’t… he almost did… he had the twenty-inch wrench raised up over his head when he heard the groan of a rover. No… he straightened entirely, eyes narrowed as… an Initiative covered Nomad crested the ridge of their valley. “Mare!” He leapt down from the roof, landing in a crouch on the grated porch. “Stay inside!” He barked over his shoulder as he dropped the wrench at his feet, reached just inside the door and pulled his long gun up in a grand swing. He heard her cry out… a sharp gasp… he spun, eyes wide… she was standing there… hands on her abdomen… the floor wet at her feet. _No… oh fuck no!_ “Not now!” He nearly begged.

Marian’s eyes locked on his. “It’s not like I can stop this, Garrus!” She shot back at him… her expression going pained. “It can… it can take hours… right…” When he didn’t answer right away, she looked at him… and the sudden fear she saw in his eyes. “It can take hours.” She gave a firm nod, her voice coming stronger.

Garrus struggled… in that moment… his entire world threatened around him. He looked at her carefully and gave another nod. “Right.” He turned back, his gun brought up… he slapped the scope’s covers open… the sun catching the crystal as he ran. He watched the Nomad coming closer, cautiously… he _booked it_. His legs screaming at the sudden demand… he slid, nearly lost his footing in his near panic… he took a deep breath as he came up behind the rock wall that he’d built, a defense… under the guise of a fencing. He set his rifle there… head canted… eye set… he didn’t have his visor anymore, it was too telling, he hadn’t brought it to Andromeda. He aimed… squeezed… the three oh eight round echoed in the valley… the shot hit the ground right in front of the Nomad. The vehicle screeched to a halt. The shot’s sound still echoing around them when the door opened. He watched as… a man wearing N7 armor got out. He reloaded, the bolt action stuck slightly but it was a far cry better than anything in this whole galaxy save for what the Kett were throwing around, and even then, from what he’d heard… this rifle would give them a run for their money. He kept his eye to the scope… his cross airs kept on the man’s head. His voice boomed out of him. “That’s far enough!”

Scott had been jarred at the shot… he threw everyone inside the Nomad forward when he slammed the breaks on. “What the…” He got out, much to the protest of Cora. He waved her off and was looking around. He’d only heard… rumors. Rumors he knew couldn’t be true. He heard the warning issued… realizing now what the shot had been. A warning shot. Now words to go along with it. Whoever was here… was not… welcoming any visitors. He held his hands up… slowly reached for his helm... _whoosh_ , his visor slid up and out of the way, revealing his face. _The man is at two o’clock, he has a weapon. I cannot detect what kind._ SAM rattled off in his head. He looked right at… the Turian. The hair always gave them away. “My name is Scott Ryder!” He yelled out… walking towards the front of the vehicle… “I’m the—“ A shot rang out, the dirt in front of him flew up and slapped against his armor. He froze. Okay… this man _so_ didn’t want visitors. _He acts like he either has something to hide… or something to protect._ He thought to SAM. _I concur._ SAM agreed. Scott held his hand out when he heard the doors open. “Stop! Stop…” He caught movement out the corner of his eye. Jaal and Drack… and Cora… all three came out of the Nomad, weapons drawn.

Garrus swallowed down his nerves… he’d faced down worse odds before. But he didn’t want to fucking take on the _Pathfinder_. That was sure to bring the Nexus sniffing around. “You just go back to where you came from!” He called out again, reloading at the same time. It was second nature, muscle memory.

Scott returned his attention to the Turian. _I detect elevated levels of alarm in his voice patterns, Scott. If you can get a little closer, I might be able to scan the dwelling and determine whether or not this is the right location._ SAM went off. Scott took a cautious step forward… he heard another shot ring out… the ground in front of him cratering. He heard Drack curse behind him. “Easy… Easy!” He barked out. “I did not come here to fight!” He shot a look at Jaal and Drack… who were pacing him. “ _Put your weapons down._ ” He hissed. They did… but they didn’t put them away, neither did Cora. He managed three steps before another shot rang out… this one whipped right past his helmet… he felt the wind off of it. He startled, tasting metal in his mouth from the sudden spike in adrenaline. _Scan successful. This is the place, Pathfinder. I have detected two heart beats inside the dwelling but only one person._ “Look, we just came to talk, that’s all.”

Garrus was panting… he couldn’t… he ground out a few more curse words as he reloaded. “God damn it kid…” He grumbled as he took aim again. “Back off!” He yelled out again. “I have nothing to say to you!”

Cora shook her head. “Scott… maybe we just… leave him alone. He’s had plenty of chances to kill you and he hasn’t… maybe we just… take his warning and go.”

Drack scoffed but Jaal spoke. “I agree. He has… shown restraint. Not something we find often.”

Scott shook his head. “We can’t. This is the place, Sam scanned the house. She’s here.”

Drack looked over the distance between them and the fence. It was a _lot_ of open ground. “Shit. It just had to be a Turian too. You do realize that he’s more likely to shoot us than let us near her, right?”

Scott ignored him though… he knew he was right. “We just want to talk!” He yelled again.

But Garrus wasn’t listening… he heard Mare behind him, it was subtle… but it was there. She had cried out in pain… she had tried to keep it quiet. His brow creased, pitched outward as he felt their situation quickly going from bad to worse. _“Fuck.”_ He cursed… he fumbled with the transmitter in his pocket, grateful he had the foresight to grab it before he left the house. “Vallarian calling Three Knight, Come back.” He gave it two seconds before he spoke again. “God damn it, Vain, pick up the fucking com!” _Vallarian, go ahead._ He heard Tallus’s voice. “Tallus, where… the fuck are you guys.” He had to keep his voice low… he watched as the Pathfinder took his silence as acceptance and started towards him, still cautious. “Fuck. The Pathfinder’s already here. I need you guys here _now_.” _Fuck. We’re still fifteen minutes out, we’ll put the hammer down._ “Yes, do.” He stuffed the transmitter back into his pocket and set up again. “I said come no further!” He yelled out again, and fired. This time, he clipped _Scott_ ’s helmet. “Fucking take the hint!” He couldn’t chase away the desperation in his tenor as it boomed from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I totally hijacked that quest.


	12. Chapter 12

Scott jerked to the side, even though it had already grazed him. “Shit.” He felt his heart slam around in his chest and Drack growl. _I detected com frequencies. He was more than likely calling allies._ Scott shook his head and held a hand out to Drack sharply. “No! Drack, stop.” He actually heard the Turian reload. He cussed low and looked back at the fence. “Look! You’re out numbered, you know this only goes one way if you keep this up! Now, knock it off! We’re coming in!” He dropped his hand, swiped his visor down and the telling blue went over them all… shields up… and started walking towards him at a more normal pace.

Garrus stood up… coming out from under cover… rifle aimed. “Fuck…” He muttered. “Don’t be stupid, kid!” He barked out… backing up… “Don’t make me shoot you.” He said it low but it still carried. He heard a sudden cry, something crashing behind him… his attention split. “Mare?!” Nothing… he adjusted his hold on the rifle. “Mare! You answer me right now!” Nothing. He heard… he glanced up and saw the worn rover come flying over the ridge. He didn’t wait… he dropped his rifle down and turned, ran towards the house.

Wrex, surprisingly, roared as they came over the ledge… he slammed on the breaks, sliding in… taking out some of Garrus’ fence. “Calvary’s here, son!!” He leapt from the driver’s seat as soon as he could throw the break over complete, the engine died and he had his massive gun out. He had brought the only three he trusted with this… Vain, Tallus, and Drand all leapt from the truck… landing in a crouch and rushing ahead with him.

Scott, Drack, Cora, and Jaal all looked to… “Holy Shit!” Scott barked out as he had to dive out of the way. When the dust settled… he was staring at…

“Urdnot Wrex.” Drack said with a certain amount of shock. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Wrex looked at Drack carefully, still not letting his guard down. “Helping out a friend. Now, I know you got his message loud and clear, so why don’t y’all just…” He gestured with his gun as he saw a flash of light to his left… Tallus pulling his blades out, the twin swords he used in lue of a gun. “Get going now.”

Garrus didn’t give two shits what was going on out there now… he had rushed inside, his gun falling from numb fingers as he saw Marian pacing, she was sweating… and grimacing. He was at her side immediately. “I’m here.” He palmed her belly and winced at how tight it had gone. “I’m right here, baby.” He held her when she turned to him. He thought… these things were supposed to take… hours! He had just ushered her to the bed when he heard the floor creak… he snatched her pistol from the floor and aimed in a second. He let out a slow breath as he looked at Drand carefully.

Drand filled the doorway… his eyes scanning the bedroom. “Garrus.” He said simply… his attention settled on Marian for only a second… she didn’t even see him, pain clouded her gaze. “Shit.”

Garrus nodded, the pistol tucked into the back of his belt. “How are things out there? They gone yet?”

Drand shook his head. “No… it’s a standoff. The Pathfinder won’t leave until he talks to you and Wrex isn’t letting him get close to the house. Shit…” He winced when Marian went through another round of body splitting pain. “She sounds close.”

Garrus cursed… and then nodded, holding her gaze intently. “She is. Shit… this is supposed to take hours.”

Marian smirked as she sagged back against the bed. “Your kid… already breaking the rules…” She tried at a joke… but it came out winded.

Garrus gave a small smirk… he looked back at Drand, a deep breath taken. “Drand…”

Drand nodded. “I got that… you get this.” He gestured and set his fist over his heart, gave a subtle bow before leaving. Once back outside, he immediately had his twin pistols drawn… and took up at the end of the line. Wrex sent him a questioning look. He shook his head and remained tightlipped.

Wrex rolled his eyes as much as a Krogan could. “Come on, D… we all know why we’re here.”

Drand shot daggers at the Pathfinder and his crew who refused to leave. “ _Delan_ is coming.”

“Now?!” Tallus jerked, looking at Drand sharply and with a shit ton of panic. “Like… _right_ now?!” He stabbed at the ground with one of his swords.

Drand gave him a droll stare. “No fucker, tomorrow, because that’s so fucking important right now, _yes_ right fucking now.” He shifted his weight and shook his head before pinning the Pathfinder again.

Vain glanced over his shoulder. “He’s got this.” He said it low… before he shouldered his shotgun again.

Scott’s eyes flared at the… “Wait… she’s having the baby _now?!_ ” He was met with immediate aggression and threatening looks. “Right now? Like… _now_ now.”

It was Tallus’s turn to give a droll stare. “Figure that out on your own, did you?”

Jaal was the one who stepped around Scott, holding a hand up. “I can help.” He was met with sneers. “I have ushered many Angaran into being… from my research, Turians are not much different in this aspect.”

Vain gave him a careful look. “She is human.”

Scott blinked rapidly. “She’ll need help, then.”

Vain narrowed his eyes at Scott. “She has her mate. He will see his child into this world… and you…” He pointed his gun at him slowly. “Will keep a respectable distance.”

Jaal shook his head and passed his gun off to Scott. “They aren’t much different. I come… unarmed.” He held his hands out, his brows pitching outward. “Please… the first child shouldn’t be risked over your differences.”

Wrex took in a deep breath before he nodded… Drand was the one who walked forward… meeting Jaal in between them, he patted him down roughly before grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him behind him. He passed Wrex… and shook his head. “He’s not going to like this.”

Once they reached the porch, Drand stilled him. “Stay.” He went ahead… and inched into the bedroom. “Garrus… they aren’t going anywhere… but… one of them… the Angaran… he wants to help.”

Garrus was… on edge, to put it lightly. He shot a look at Drand. “Tell me you didn’t…” _He’s on the porch._ “Fuck, Drand, no!” He frowned when he felt Marian’s weak hand on his.

Marian frowned back at him. “Let him help.”

Garrus bent low and kissed her hand before he nodded. “Fine. Let him in.”

Drand returned and gestured for Jaal to follow. But before he let him into the room he turned on him. “I’m not going to threaten you, that’s a given. But you should know… a mated Turian is not to be trifled with. Especially him. Know this as well… Turians bring their own children into the world… he is the one who will do this. There are traditions… do not interfere.”

Jaal gave a solomn nod and walked past him when gestured to. He… was stilled for a moment by the sight of the woman laboring… she was sweat soaked and exhausted… pained and yet… strong. The Turian male he had only gotten a glance at earlier was… fiercely scarred… and gave him a dangerous look but when he looked back to her, all that fury was just gone. Jaal covered his chest with his hand and gave a low bow. “I am Jaal Ama Darav… of the Angaran Resistance.” He looked between them both.

Marian looked at him carefully but gave a nod. “Hello, Jaal.”

Garrus smoothed some of her hair down when she looked back at him. “Jaal.” Was all he said in greeting before she gave him a look. He wanted to laugh at how she was chastising him from her current condition. “My name is…” He thought about it for a moment before he just said screw it. “Garrus Vakarian.” He saw Marian give him a gentle smile. “This is Marian… my mate.” He bent low and slipped his lips over her slick forehead.


	13. Chapter 13

A few hours ticked by… long enough for everyone outside to come to a tense truce. A fire was built… and they just sat there, Wrex and Drack the only two from either side speaking. All while they waited…

Garrus’ heart was pounding as he settled, hands full of his newly born child. He looked up at her… her… who was braced by this Angaran stranger. He could hardly speak, his voice came out so thick. “He’s beautiful.” He bent low, his incisors slicing the cord… which came from the newlings belly… unlike his kind and like hers. His came from the arm, the crook of the elbow… and was thin, spindly. This was a bit thicker. He saw the little frills on his nose, wide open and angry at the world for being so cruelly evicted from his mother. He wailed… Garrus pulled him against his chest… bent low and took in a deep breath, his frills opening… letting out a low rumble, a vibration that went into the new being. It silenced him immediately, as was the way. Garrus _purred_ deep for his son… his eyes closed as he felt the little fists bat at his cheeks… “Welcome to the world, my son.” He picked up the towel that was beside him and started cleaning him slowly… gently… focused. He felt the beginnings of the hooks on the boy’s calves… but none on his arms. He finally had him dry… he moved up to Marian… cradling the child against him. He leaned… smiled at her with a rush of emotion.

Marian marveled the entire time… grateful for the support of this… Jaal. She was surprised at his open weeping, though not sobbing, just tears at the moment. She looked at their child and reached, running her fingers over his body lightly. “He’s… perfect.” She looked up as Garrus kissed her softly.

Garrus laid the baby down… squalling and squirming… while he helped Marian change. He watched Jaal carefully as the mighty male wrapped his arms around himself and leaned, looking curiously but in obvious adoration. He had a gentle way about him. All Angaran did. Once Marian was on her feet… he moved around and picked the boy up. “Quick… before we lose the light.” He moved swiftly… seeing the felling light.

Drand heard movement… he glanced behind him. _Drand, the panels, quick… catch the light!_

Everyone outside jumped up when Garrus appeared… a newborn child in his arms… Drand rushed for solar panels… barking at his brother, Tallus, to hurry up and help.

Scott blinked. “What… what are they…” He looked at Jaal questioningly as the Angaran rejoined them.

Vain smiled softly. “They’re catching the light.”

Garrus hurried but didn’t jostle his son… he kept looking down at him… watching… hoping. He stilled his steps when he felt Marian pull on his shoulder… he turned… feeling the warmth from the reflections hitting him. He swallowed nervously as he held the baby up… his hands under his arms. His face broke out in a broad grin as tears welled and fell… he barked out a joyful laugh as he watched the markings start to appear.

Marian smiled and wrapped her arms around Garrus… reaching… smoothing down some of her son’s downy hair as she watched the pale blue stripe appear over his temple… the bridge of his nose.

Vain clapped once and hooted… Drand and Tallus both raised their arms and howled up into the air. Then… seemingly all at once… the pale blue that hinted at the markings flew around the baby’s legs and arms… chest and hips… a mirror image of Garrus’ own tattoos… that weren’t actually tattoos.

Garrus fought the way his chin trembled… watching the markings appear. He couldn’t help the way his shoulders started to rock, the tears that made his vision swim. “Welcome to the line of Vakarian. Your grandfather… would have been so proud to meet you.” He turned slow and took deep breaths through his mouth, feeling himself start to shake as he braced his hand around his son’s rear and the back of his neck… he fell to a knee and offered him to Marian. “My mate… I give to you my son… which you have given me. A warrior of my line… blood of my blood… teach him to be kind… gentle… loving… caring… tender… all of the things that I cannot. And I swear I will teach him to be strong… proud… honorable… brave… and true.”

Marian smiled down at him, she took their child and cradled him against her chest easily, shushing him quietly as she swayed with him. “Shh…” She winked at Garrus. “I love you.” She said it low but it was there.

Drack openly stared… he looked at Wrex… back at… “Vakarian.” He said it low but his gruff voice still carried. It didn’t take much at all to put two and two together for him. He met Wrex’ eyes and… “I’ll be damned.” He looked at Scott next and gestured for him to come over to him. Once he got close enough he told him that they were leaving… right now.

Garrus looked up when he heard the Nomad… they just… left. He got an email the next day from Scott Ryder.

_G.V._

_Drack figured out who you two were. Your secret is safe with me, just as it was with my father. Congratulations._

_Scott Ryder_


End file.
